


The Flip Side of the Coin

by spikesgirl58



Series: ABBA/Foothills [75]
Category: Man from Uncle - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-28
Updated: 2013-07-28
Packaged: 2017-12-21 14:27:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/901350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spikesgirl58/pseuds/spikesgirl58
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A look at the Foothills from a very different view</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Flip Side of the Coin

The only thing I remember about my mom is that she warned me about people.  She urged me to never trust them and to never give my love freely.  Then she went out and never came back.  The first few weeks were really hard.  I was terrible at getting food and had to make do with whatever I could find.

Then I met M and things got a lot better.  He was a little older than me and so smart in the ways of the world.  Ignoring my mother, I fell for him completely.  At first I feared that he was just hanging around because he thought I would be good at sex.  But that wasn’t the case.  He just hung around, even when he didn’t have to.

One day we were heading downtown and he indicated a porch to a small building.

“Go over there and start crying.”

“Why?  Who lives there?”

“A guy who’s a real soft touch.  If he hears you crying, he’ll feed you.  He cooks things for a living and he always has extra.”

“Is he kind?  He won’t hurt me?”  I remembered what Mamma said.

“Trust me.”

Turns out it was the best day of my life… and M’s as well.  He was right.  I cried and a man came out.  He spoke softly and was so kind.  The food was some of the best I’d ever tasted and as M joined me, I heard the man laugh.

“So, getting the food is a woman’s job, is it?”  I guessed he took one look at my distended belly and knew I was pregnant.  “Well, eat up.  There’s more where that came from.”  His voice was so kind that I knew right then and there I was going to stay here as long as he’d have me.   When he opened the door to go back in, I followed.  M was on my heels, ever my protector.

“So that’s how it is, is it?  He laughed and the next thing I knew, I had a warm home, plenty to eat and good company.  It would be a crime to ask for more.  I thanked Illya, for that was the man’s name, by giving birth in the middle of his bed.

I was so scared, scared about giving birth, scared as to his reaction, but he only laughed, told me I was clever and moved us to a box on the floor… I have told you that I’m a cat, haven’t I?

I loved my babies and I could tell M was proud of them.  I fussed, cleaned, and did all that I could to keep them happy.  We taught them all about what it meant to be a cat and of our proud heritage.  Then one day, they were gone.  I called for them for hours and Illya assured me they were all safe and in good homes.  After a while, I gave up and adopted him as my baby instead.   He didn’t seem to mind.  One day, he put both of us into a small crate and took us some place. 

Both of us were scared the minute we entered the place.  It reeked of fear and sickness.  Illya talked to us kindly but it didn’t help.  Then, like my kittens, he was gone and we were in tiny cages.  The people spoke to us gently, but we were so, so terrified.

One put me on a cold table and petted me.  I got so sleepy and then woke up in the cage.  M was sleeping beside me and that made me feel better.  I hurt and I didn’t feel very well.  The feeling persisted even after Illya came and took us home.

It took me a couple of days to feel like myself again, but there were never anymore kittens.  Not even M was interested any longer.  Part of me was sad, but another part was delighted.  I felt free for the first time.  I had food, shelter, a mate, and human pets.  What more could a cat ask for?  I decided to let them know every day how happy I was and how much I appreciated it.

                                                                                ****

M was sprawled out on the couch, just the tip of his tail flicking.  I resisted the urge to pounce on it and flopped down beside him.

“What are you purring about?”  He lifted his head.

“I’m happy.”

“You are always happy, little one.”  He began to clean my ear.  He’s right, of course.    What was there to be upset about?  I know some of my kind just couldn’t let go of their primitive past.  They would scratch or bite, even their pets.  They still didn’t or couldn’t trust them.  I, on the other hand, didn’t have such trouble.

“Life’s too short not to be happy.  Besides, you were pretty happy with the duck tonight.”  One of our pets is a chef.  I think it means he makes yummy food.  We’ve always had two pets, at first Matt was our.  Then he left and Napoleon came.  I didn’t mind.  He had much better smelling shoes.  I really liked Napoleon’s shoes.

“Where are they?”  M switched to my other ear.

“Upstairs, making kittens… again.  I don’t understand, M.  They do it again and again and they never have kittens.  Why don’t they give up?”

“I don’t know.”  M stretched and rolled onto his back, exposing a delicately spotted pale gold stomach.  “It seems like an enormous expense of energy and time.”  He yawned and I laughed.

“Everything is an enormous expense of energy and time to you, especially after all that duck you ate.”  I settled down beside him.  “M, what’s an anniversary?”

“I’m not really sure.  I know it only happens once a year.”

“Like Christmas?”  I loved Christmas!  All those pretty shiny balls to play with and the packages, all cat height.

“Something like that, but it’s usually for only two people.”

I nodded, trying to look wise.  He laughed and we wrestled for a minute before falling to sleep.

                                                                                                *****

 

It took me a minute to figure out what woke me.  M just rolled over and slept on.  I got to my feet, stretched and looked around.  It was dark but that wasn’t much of a burden to me.  Illya joked that I spent time in the sun to recharge my solar batteries – whatever they are – so that I could see at night.  I think he is joking because he laughed, but I could see at night and I did love to sleep in the sun.  The two might be connected.

I started to walk into the kitchen and froze.  There were shapes against the glass of the door.  That wasn’t right.  They were sort of hunched over and I could hear whispering.

I flattened against the floor and hissed.  Almost immediately M was beside me.

“What’s wrong?”

“The door.”

“Go get Illya.  I will stand watch.”

I raced up the stairs and into their bedroom.  The bedcovers were thrown all over the floor and the room had that funny smell to it.  Then and again, it usually had that funny smell to it these days.  Picking my way through the sheets and blankets, I jumped up on the bed and walked to Illya.

“Illya!  Illya, wake up!”

He pushed me away and mumbled something.  I tried Napoleon, with equal success.  Sadly, this is often the way it was after they tried to make kittens.  Nothing would wake them up. 

I returned to Illya and did something I’d never done before.  I extended just a bit of claw and stroked his face.  He made a funny noise, rolled over and I was abruptly on the floor wondering what had happened.   For a human, he had good reflexes, I’d give him that.  However, it still was for naught as he was still asleep.  Sighing, I raced back downstairs.

M was hunched under a chair staring at the kitchen door.  “Are they coming?”

“No, I couldn’t wake them.  I used my claws and everything.  What do we do?”

M looked at me as if to judge my worth and gave me a fast lick.  “We do the best we can, of course.  The way I see it, it’s up to us to defend our territory.  You go high, I’ll go low.”

“There are two of them.”

“There are two of us, one for each, then.”  He adjusted his position as I leapt up onto the china cabinet. “Wait for my move.”

I nodded and crouched. 

They stood in the doorway and looked around.

“What a dump.” The taller of the pair muttered.  My nose wrinkled up at the smells rolling off him.  I’d smelled garbage pails that were more appealing.

“Not possible.  This guy is making money hand over fist at the restaurant of his.  There has to be something here.”  The second guy was not much better, although he smelled more like something ripe by the side of the road.  I could handle do this.  It reminded me of my kitten days.

Their beams flicked from spot to spot and for a moment I was tempted to leap upon it, but held strong.  I could see that M was proud of my restraint.

“What if there isn’t?”

“Then we wake the old man up and threaten him until he talks.”

“If he doesn’t talk?”

“Won’t make any difference, he’s dead meat either way.”

I gasped at that and, as they stepped through into the living room, I saw M make his move.  His ears were back and his tail swished violently from side to side.  The element of surprise was our greatest weapon and I don’t think his target had the faintest idea anything was happening until M jumped forward and wrapped his mighty paws around the tall guy’s leg.  He sunk his teeth into the man’s knee and there was a howl.  At the same moment, I dropped from my perch to the short guy’s shoulder and dug in. 

It was pretty crazy for the next few seconds as those humans tried to pry us off.  It was a no can do to our way of thinking.  Then suddenly the lights flashed on and Illya was standing there.  He was naked, but that wasn’t what made the men pause.  He was holding a weapon.

Immediately, we both retreated to beneath the table.

“Stay right there,” Illya ordered and I was so proud.  My blood was still singing from the attack and my tail lashed from side to side.  “Napoleon, call Randy and tell him we have a couple presents for him.”

Napoleon came down a minute later, carrying a robe.  “Done and done.”  He looked over at the men and shook his head.  “Why did you pick this place to break into?”

“No alarm system,” my victim muttered.  He was bleeding in a dozen spots.

Napoleon looked over at us and smiled.  “Care to put money on that?”

I knew they were pleased with us, for we were showered with tasty morsels and praises.  The newspaper even called us heroes and took our photo for the paper.  While it was nice and all, none of it mattered.  I knew M felt the same as I did.  When all is said and done, no one messes with our family.

 

 


End file.
